Drudging Out of 2019

This is going to start on a bit of an off-note. There’s a word that keeps coming to mind, especially looking out the windows at the cold, lifeless ground that just received the barest sprinkling of snow. That word is “drudge.”

The definition is that of one who works hard at tedious or monotonous tasks. The same old, day in, day out, never getting better, and here we are, trudging through life as we are drudging along, working, working, working.

Like I said, this starts on an off-note.

My thoughts and mindset remind me of a few years ago, when I went to an Andrew Peterson and Audrey Assad concert with my sister. It was a cold night, in the middle of winter break. Kind of like tonight, where the snow was just beginning to dust the ground. We sat down near the front, and had a great time. But one of the highlights of the night was when Andrew Peterson introduced his song by saying, “I don’t know what winters are like up here, but in Tennessee, they’re brutal.”

There was a brief pause, then everyone in the room who had experienced a Central New York winter burst out laughing.

His point, though, was that during the winter, Tennessee turns into a land of mud. It’s just mud for three months. Cold rain and mud. The song that he was introducing was called, “The Rain Keeps Falling.”

It’s a song that starts like this post – It seems that it’s a bit of an off-note. The halfway point of the song goes like this:

I’m so tired of this game, of these songs, of the road
I’m already ashamed of the line I just wrote
But it’s true and it feels like I can’t sing a note
And the rain keeps falling down
Falling down
Falling down

Here’s where the song takes a turn, though. A new voice joins his own, singing three simple words:

Peace, be still.

The song doesn’t end with rescue. The cave that the author resides in does not burst open with a blaze of light. The prayer that this seeming death will end in life does not end. So what does change in the song?

The imagery here is that even when the rain continues to fall, when the tomb refuses to open – when we’re drudging through our lives – the voice of God still sings over us, “Peace, be still.” We might not even hear this, but if we continue to press on, continue to pray, we will.

That’s all I have to say on that side of things – those are just thoughts that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind today. That’s my look back at 2019 – us, drudging out of the old year and into the new year.

So, let us turn around and face the glorious rise of the New Year. 2020 has arrived, and most of us still think 2015 was yesterday. 2020 will be a year filled with golden opportunity. Chances ripe for the taking.We stand ready on the cusp of what will be the greatest decade of our lives.

Or will it?

Take a moment to consider. We, as humans, have a tendency to look forward to things so much that in the end, we miss them. An example that comes to mind is going to a Campus Community service, or a special worship night, looking for an encounter with God. I’m not saying this is a bad thing in itself, but it can become a detriment when we focus on the encounter with God instead of God Himself.

When we search only for this singular moment, we miss that God has been standing in front of us the entire time – our entire life – just waiting for us to see Him.

This same thing can happen when we put our focus on specific times or events to change us or our lives. Times, such as 2020. Events, such as a New Year’s resolution. But this only leads to disappointment. Our hopes, put so much higher, have even further to fall, and thereby are destroyed even more roundly.

This, if I’m going to be honest, is just as depressing to write as I assume it is to read. There has to be good news. And of course, there is.

2020 is a year full of potential. It’s a year that’s going to be filled with growth. All of those dreams you have? They have the possibility of coming true. Those New Year’s resolutions? Well, it is the present, and there is no time like now change your life.

But this year, don’t expect everything to come true. Look back at this past year. There were unforeseen struggles and trials that you had to get through. 2020 will be no different. But if you search only for the highs, the lows will hit you even harder. And if you think only of the lows, then is it any surprise that the highs seem to pass you by?

I look forward to 2020. There will be blessings and there will be hard times. But through it all, the God of the ages, who existed during the original Roaring 20’s, and long, long before, will be before me and behind me. He will surround me and guide my way. Day in and day out, He will be my sustaining power and my ever-present peace.

May the peace of God bless you in the coming year.

Peace, be still.

(You can listen to The Rain Keeps Falling at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TU2YW-6E3M)